The Glaive
by goldleaves
Summary: AU- Kel never left the Yamani Islands, She never went to become a knight, instead she began a long journey of training that made her the number 1 warrior in the country, hers is a story of betrayal, love and magic.- NOW COMPLETE
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer- **I do not own the characters, Tamora Pierce does (sigh) I however do own the plot.

**A/n- **I AM REDOING ALL OF MY CHAPTERS… BECAUSE I CAN!!! ::evil laughter::

It was a stormy day, Keladry of Mindelan, a 11 year old, who was tall for her age, she had short brown hair, and dreamer's hazel eyes, stood silent for a moment, and then she ran back to her rooms, her parents had died in the storm as they were making their way to Port Caynn in Tortall.

She had a great morning, and was smiling when she entered the Ante-Chamber, as she entered she saw the grim faces of the Emperor and his son, First Prince Etiori, who was just a year older than herself, after she bowed, they told her,

"We sent out ships, to escort the Sarite home… they didn't instead they found the wreckage of the Sarite… the ship your parents are on… They are dead, I am sorry"

She paced her rooms thinking, but the enclosed space of her room, made her yearn for the outside so, she quickly grabbed a cloak, and exited the palace. somehow she made it to the cliff, and she sat there, her legs dangling over the cliff, she looked out at the stormy sea that had claimed her parent's lives, and thought,

'_I will make them proud! I will be the greatest Warrior that I can be' _

Little did she know, three Gods had stopped their fighting, in the Divine Realms to listen and watch, they were awed at her determination and inner-strength, and they made a pact, she would be challenged at important moments of her life, by each one of the Gods, and they would also help her in the bad times… this was something unknown of, for those Gods, to work together instead of fighting.

In the Shadows of the nearby trees, a shadow watched her sit there, looking up at the sky, with unnoticed tears on her face.


	2. The Tortallans come

**Disclaimer- **I do not own the characters, Tamora Pierce does (sigh) I however do own the plot.

**A/N- **again it has been re-written

9 years later

A Tortallan boat docked at the port of Gerit, which was situated on the main island of the Yamani Isles, by the rail stood a group of people, including King Jonathon IV, a tall man, with coal-black hair and sapphire eyes, Queen, also known as Thayet the Peerless as her beauty was undiminished and the King's Champion, who was looking slightly green, they were there to further their alliance; on the dock was a small group of people, who were dressed in simple, but elegant riding gear, as they disembarked, a twenty-one year old man stepped forward, bowed and said,

"I am prince Eitiori…welcome to the Yamani Isles" and in recognition of his position and name they bowed, when suddenly, an arrow zipped past, and landed where Eitori had stood, they moved there heads to see where he had gone, and saw, that he had been pushed aside by a woman, who looked around, identified where the archer was and jumped into the window and pulled out a man who was dressed in black, and handed him over to some of the guards, she then gave a slight nod to Etiori and blended into the crowd,

"Who was that?" asked a short red haired woman, The King's Champion who had bright copper coloured hair and light amethyst eyes

"That is Keladry" Etiori said, in a way that discouraged further questions

"Oh…I'm Sir Alanna of Pirates Swoop"

"Ahh, it is an honour to have such a famous warrior visiting our lands"

"Thank you" and they slowly made their way up to the palace.


	3. Teasing

**Disclaimer- **I do not own Tortall, or the characters, Tamora Pierce does (sigh) the only thing I own are the characters you don't recognise and the plot

At the palace, they were met by the Emperor, and his family, as well as Keladry, who was now wearing plain red and yellow robes with an orange obi, which was strikingly different to what she had worn earlier, and gave the impression that she was a court lady, though they knew, from seeing her earlier that she was as deadly as she was beautiful, belted to her waist was two swords, a long curved sword and a short strait sword, she also had a shuasken.

"Your Imperial Majesty" the king said with a bow

"Your Majesties…welcome to the Yamani Isles" said the old man

"Thank You"

"I would like to introduce you to the court… this is Yeli, my cousin" he said pointing to a beautiful woman,

"Taret, my nephew" he then pointed to a man on his side,

"And Kaki…or Keladry…one of my warriors" he said finally indicating her, after a while both sides were talking but Kel just stood there, like a statue surveying the crowds, when suddenly Eitori was beside her,

"Hello…Kaki" he said using the name she hated the most

"Hello….Etty" she retorted

"Truce?"

"Why? This is so much fun…I'm winning….Again"

"Shut up Kaki"

"What ever you say, your highness" she said stiffly, bowing, she suddenly heard a laugh from beside her,

"That was so funny…I'm Sir Alanna of Pirates Swoop"

"Sir" she replied with a bow

But before Alanna could say anything The Emperor beckoned her over to where he was standing.

**A/N- **again a re-write.


	4. Meeting the Queenscove's

**Disclaimer- **I only own the characters you don't know… the rest belong to Tamora Pierce (sigh)

**A/N- **I would like to thank my reviewers = **micati, Cherry-BLUE009, gabbowa360 **and finally (but not least) **quickreader93**

**and now on with the story…**

when Kel got to the Emperor's side she saw that he was talking to the King and Queen of Tortall, she bowed to him, in the Yamani way, and then to the foreign monarchs in the Tortallan manner, suprising them

"Your Imperial Majesty… you summoned me" she commented softly

"I did… Keladry this is their majesties King Jonathon and Queen Thayet" she nodded her understanding, he carried on to say to the monarchs,

"King Jonathon and Queen Thayet… this is Keladry of Mindelan, youngest daughter of Piers and Ilane of Mindelan"

"Ahhh….really?" asked King Jon, suprised

"Yes… she's been training her for some years" eventually she was dismissed and walked over to where Prince Eitori was talking with Alanna,

"Hello Kaki"

"Your Highness….may I ask you to stop calling me that?"

"You may… but it won't work" she rolled her eyes at him

"Oh…why is she called Kaki?" at the sound of that name she groaned, Alanna looked at her questioningly,

"I hate that name"

"How did you get it?" asked someone who was behind her, she spun quickly to see a tall knight with green eyes, who was holding a yamani woman's hand, suddenly they recognised each other,

"Yuki… it's been years…is this your new husband?"

"yes…. Kel, this is Neal of Queenscove"

"welcome" she had heard of him, from her friends' letters, apparently he was humorous and extremely blunt

"thank you… how did you get the name Kaki?"

"It's a long story"

"I want to know"

"As do i!" said someone else, who looked to be related to Neal

"and you are?"

"Sergeant Domitian of Masbolle of the Kings Own"

"Ahh… anyway, I don't really want to tell it now… maybe another time"

"you promise?"

"yes… I promise"

"I'll keep you to that" he grinned mischievously

"Oh Gods… why me?" she said looking up,

"I ask myself that, every day" Eitori said, coming up to stand next to her

She was about to retort when she remembered who was and gave him a mock bow, and retreated to her post, by the windows over looking the garden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile in the Divine realms, three gods were watching her with interest, looking at the girl who nine years ago was insecure and unnoticeable, but now was confident and beautiful and a magnificent warrior

**A/N - **thanks for reviewing


	5. Jealousy

**isclaimer – **ahhh, I hate writing these, so this one will last for the whole story – I do not own anything, except the plot and the characters you don't know, Tamora Pierce does (sigh)

**A/N- **thanks to my great reviewers = **RandomTamTamLover, LadyReaderofBooks, micati, Cherry-BLUE009, gabbowax360 **and **quickreader93, **please review!!!!

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The rest of the night was uneventful, the next morning Kel woke earlier than usual, she had had a nightmare, in which she was falling, falling into the darkness and the cold, so she got up and went to the practice yards, Yuki, Neal and Dom found her there hours later, she was flipping over a six-foot high fence, and landing on the balls of her feet, when she realised that she had an audience she did a last flip, and made it in to a spin, landed on foot and bowed towards them,

"Hey" Dom said, his blue eyes following her every movement, she walked up to them with a slight smile, and he could see that she was not sweating even though it took great effort to do flips like that,

"Hey" she replied

"How did you do that?"

She shrugged and said while walking by, "Practice"

"Oh… will you tell us why you are called Kaki now?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes"

And suddenly she muttered something in Scanran, causing Neal to look at her

"I didn't know hat you knew Scanran"

"yeah…well I do"

"anyway tell us" Dom interrupted

"I got the name Kaki, because once, when I was twelve, I snuck into the great chamber, and someone found me, so I gave them a fake name…Kaki, they then took me to the emperor, who knew me, but played along, as if I was a servant…it was hilarious" she said giggling

"I didn't know anyone from here could laugh"

"we do sometimes, but we try to hide it"

she looked at something over his shoulder and smiled at the group and said,

"I've got to go now" she said while walking towards the entrance of the practice yards, where Eitori stood, when she got there, he put his arm around her waist, and she laughed, at a joke that he had said, meanwhile Yuki said,

"I think he likes her"

"Really…what do you think Dom?"

"Huh…yeah" he seemed distracted, little did they know but he was fighting an internal battle, one part of him wanting to go over to where they were and punch him, another sad, another knew that she wasn't his, and another wishing that she was, it was just too confusing for Dom, so he shook his head and walked off to his room.

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**A/N- **I haven't done anything to this chapter!


	6. Practice

**Disclaimer- **I do not own anything, Tamora Pierce does (sigh) except for the things and characters that you don't recognise, and the plot is MINE too, however I am slowly working on a way to kidnap Tamora Pierce's Characters....

**A/N-** thanks for all who reviewed my last chapter

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He wandered the halls for hours thinking, about Kel, he remembered when he first got feelings for her, it was four years ago, and they had gone riding together;

_As they rode through the forest, Eiiori was studying her, the way she smiled and laughed, normally people laughing was considered a barbarian concept, but her laugh, it sent thrills down his spine. They rode in an easy silence, until Kel turned to him, and said, _

"_You want to race?"_

"_Sure…Where to?"_

"_The Falls"_

"_Okay…one"_

"_Two"_

"_Three"_

"_GO" _

_And she sped off, smiling, she had won that race, but he didn't care, he was beginning to realize that he liked this strange girl, who for the last five years he had despised, when he made it to the falls, she had unsaddled her horse, and was sitting in a tree, that hanged over the water,_

"_You Lost!" she declared_

"_You're Wet"_

"_No…I'm not" she was confused_

_And he pushed her from the tree into the water, as she came up, he said,_

"_You are now"_

"_You will pay for that Your Highness!"_

_And even though he knew that he would pay for it, painfully, he didn't care._

He was shaken out of his musings when he heard her laugh, he was by the outdoor practice yards, _of course_ he thought, smiling inside, but when he saw who she was talking to, he grew sad, she was talking to her friend Yuki, her new husband Nealan of Queenscove, and their friend, Domitian of Masbolle, he signalled her over to where he stood,

"Yes"

"How are you?"

"Bored"

He put his arm around her waist, liking the fact that he held her, and the fact that she didn't move from his embrace

"Why would you be bored…oh great warrior?"

She laughed, just as he intended her to,

"no-one will spar with me" she said fluttering her eyelashes,

"I wonder why" he muttered under his breath

"What?"

"I said…I will"

"Oh" she sounded dubious

"Though I must warn you…I have improved from last time"

"Really? I can still beat you though"

"Can not"

"Prove it"

"Fine…what type of sparring do you want to do?"

"Swords"

"Okay"

They moved to an empty space, and unsheathed their swords, they bowed to each other, and circled, suddenly Eitori lunged, she spun neatly out of the way, and as he lunged towards her again, she flipped over his head, they were striking, with a clash, and darting away quickly, they were both tiring, and sweating profusely, as he lunged towards her once more, his arm was shaking, and so she was able knock it out of his hand, making it fly straight into a tree, and she snaked her sword, up to his throat, he managed to croak,

"I yield" she lowered her sword, as he went to get his sword, he heard clapping and cheers, Kel spun to face the sound and saw it was many of the Tortallans, and a couple of the Yamani warriors, as Eiiori came to stand by her, after getting his sword, one of her friends, Halla, come to talk to her, he was taller than most, and was her first friend in the Isles,

"You've gotten better Kaki"

"You've gotten more obnoxious Hal"

"nice comeback"

"at least I know how to fight a girl" she said laughing at his wounded expression

"you're never gonna' let that go are you"

"no" he put his arm around her shoulder

"I don't see why you're friends with him" came someone from the back of the crowd, it was Yeli, she had hated Kel ever since she started training, instead of wanting to be a lady like her,

"and I don't see why you would want to be friends with Kalle…but you are, maybe I'll never understand" she said in a sweet voice…too sweet a voice,

"I'll go…I unlike some" she paused looking at Yeli, "have work to do" and she walked off, towards her room, as Yeli went in the other direction, with a huff.

"What was that about?" Alanna asked curious

"They've been at each other's necks for years…I think that the only thing that keeps Kel from slapping her is because she is related to the Emperor" Halla asked

"Who are you?" she asked

"Oh… I am Duke Halla of Pine Mountains…head of warrior training here at the palace"

"And he's second to Kel in skill" Eitori added

"Then why did you become training master?"

"She didn't want it…good thing considering"

"How so?" Neal interrupted

"She's much too busy as it is"

"With what?"

"being Eitori's guard, and working on many projects, and protecting the Yamani Isles" he said gesturing with his arms

"what projects?"

"on the way here, did you see the new building on the hill?"

"Yeah…what of it?"

"It's a fighting temple"

"Oh?? May we see it one day?"

"I presume so…now if you'll excuse me, I have to go beat up some warriors" and he walked away whistling

"He's different from what I imagined" a tall red-head added

"How so?" Eitori asked

"We heard in Tortall, that he's a fierce fighter who is always on guard, never jokes, and has killed ten giants"

"he is and has done all that…but he is quite laid back when he's home"

"Oh…I'm Cleon of Kennan, by the way"

"Nice to meet you, I'm sorry I have to attend a meeting"

As he walked out, the Tortallans wondered about the three friends, all different, yet they seemed to get along, and they were all deadly, they could tell that by the warrior stances that they took, it showed them that they were always ready for a fight, and probably would run into it head first.

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**A/n- ** I haven't changed that much in this one


	7. The Temple

**Disclaimer- **i do not own anything you recognize

**A/N – **thanks to all my great readers, and those who have put this story on Story Alert and have made me on their Favourite Author's list. A big thank you who has wished me a Happy Birthday, I am doing this instead of Revising (aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) because I had a great day…. I managed to shock my science class today, by explaining how the existence of dark matter supports the theory of oscillation (you've caught me I am a physics geek… UP WITH PHYSICS WOOOOT)

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The next day, it had been arranged for the group to visit the temple, when they arrived there they saw that it was an elegant building, with sprawling gardens and practise yards, as they walked through one of these yards they heard someone yell,

"Up, kick, spin, Down…come on my granny can do that"

As they rounded the corner they saw Kel teaching a group of warriors.

"Who are they?" Neal asked Eitori

"They are the Dantashi… special warrior's, like the King's Own in Tortall…Kel is their leader"

"Oh" he nodded showing understanding, soon they walked closer,

"Hey" Eitori said, as he had been their guide, as she heard him, she spun around to face him, bowed and replied,

"Prince Eitori"

"How is this class going?"

"ahh…I think that they need more time"

"why?"

"They are completely useless"

He stood there thinking for a moment, and then faced her, with a mischievous glint in his eyes,

"do you remember Tolla?"

"yes….i love it" they faced the warriors, watching them silently as they got nervous, at their masters' evil grins.

She walked around them, silently, and suddenly yelled something in yamani.

"What was that?" Neal asked Yuki

"she just said, _go run up the mountain until you find the flower of coyloa_"

"what?"

"it's a flower that only grows on that mountain" she said while pointing at a massive mountain

"why?"

"it makes them work…both together and individually"

"ahhh"

As they ran off, Kel turned to face the Tortallans, and said,

"Do you want some tea?"

"Uh….ofcourse"

"come this way then" and she led them into the temple, inside it was elegant but simple, they spent a couple of hours talking, before they had to leave for different things.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After they left Kel, sat in the room thinking, when Eitori walked in, he sat next to her, and said,

"What are you thinking about?"

"The Tortallans…they're nice"

"Yes…they are"

She sighed happily, and leant against him.

He felt her heartbeat through where they touched, and he smelt her hair, it smelt of jasmine and her skin, it was an intoxicating smell that wiped his mind clean. Little did he know that as she felt his arms tighten around her, she relaxed even further, she just wanted them to stay as they were, sitting, with his arms around her waist, when he kissed her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	8. Tears

**A/N –** Hello… I know it's been a week since I've updated, but I've been away….and busy (sorry)

**Disclaimer –** I own nothing that you recognise

**On with the story… **

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

After the kiss, she stared at him, her mind was dazed, and her lips were tingling from his touch,

"Kel" he whispered,

But instead of answering, she stood, and ran out of the temple, in time to see the trainee's returning muddy, as she ran past, they stared at her, they never thought that their training master, a great warrior would be afraid, but they could all understand the expression on her face, which she didn't try to conceal.

She ran all the way to the palace, and past the startled Tortallans, as soon as she had rounded the corner, Dom looked at where she had gone and said,

"Was she crying?"

"I think so" Neal replied

"Why?"

"How am I supposed to know??? And you call me a meathead" Neal muttered the last part, but unfortunately Dom heard it,

"That's because you are…Meathead"

"That's Sir Meathead to you"

Dom didn't bother to reply, and just walked off to find Kel, he found her eventually in the stables, she was grooming her horse, which was a tall, strawberry roan.

Though her face was tear stained, she looked peaceful,

"are you okay?" he asked

"huh… oh, I'm fine"

"are you sure?"

"Yeah…thanks"

He was silent for a moment, but then suddenly asked,

"are you going to the ball?"

"no"

"why not?"

"I need to go somewhere"

"oh" he was disappointed "really"

"yeah…I was just reminded that I have been neglecting my duties, down south" it wasn't a total lie, she had been putting off her work down south but the real reason she was leaving was because she needed time to think

"when will you be back?"

"I don't know"

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**A/N - **thanks to all those who reviewed!!


	9. Running Away

**Disclaimer-** I do not own anything that you recognise

**A/N-** there may be a HUGE wait between this chapter and the next…. I am getting stuck… any ideas????? I NEED inspiration!!

On with the story…

She rode for days, steadily going south, skirting around villages, not wanting anything to interrupt her thoughts;

_Why??? Why did he kiss me??? _She kept asking herself

_Maybe he likes you!_ Her traitorous mind thought

_Right… he must have somehow found out that I liked him!_

You mean like

_Shut up! You're not even real_ she retorted

Then you're crazy… I mean you are talking to yourself!

"I must be crazy, if I'm having an argument with my head, and my head is winning"

_you've noticed_ the voice in her mind said dryly.

After a while, the voice said,

Why are we going south?

_I've got work to go down here_

_Right… you are running away!_

_I am NOT!!! And I do have work down south to do_

_Whatever!_

After that there was silence in her mind, as she galloped south.

Meanwhile, at the palace, Etiori was pacing his rooms, also having an internal struggle with his mind;

Why?? Why did I kiss her? Why did she run away????

_Maybe she was afraid_ a dry voice in his thought

Kel…afraid…Never!!!

_Maybe she likes you_

_She can't like me…why else would she run?_ He thought trying not to get his hopes up.

How am I supposed to know? I'm not even real

_What??? _he asked flummoxed

_Think over it _and then the voice was gone.

Etiori then sat on his bed, put his head in his hands, and started thinking about what his mid voice said.

That night as Kel camped, she heard a crack of a twig breaking, and then suddenly she was hit over the head by something hard, and everything went black.

A/N- ohhh cliffie (MWAHAHAHA) ::people nearby start backing away, after manic laugh:: if you want me to update…I want reviews telling me what I should do next!!! ::grins evilly::


	10. The Camp

**A/N –**hey this is dedicated to Studentofwords who said, and I quote-

'That was an evil cliffie! This is good, so update soon...

And if you don't you might just find my fencing saber at your neck some  
night, while I go mwuahahahaha and make you yield into writing the next  
chapter!

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!'

and as I don't particularly want to wake up one night with a fencing sabre at my neck, I obey her commands ::bows:: ::cheeky grin:: (I think that Studentofwords is a girl, if not WHATEVER!!) (oh b.t.w. I used to fence too… en-guard madamoiselle / mosieur)

**Disclaimer - **I do not own anything that you recognise!!! Get it? Got it? Good!?! Do I really have to say it ever again????? (I hope not)

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When she awoke, she saw that she was in a tent, her hands were tied behind her back, she looked around, but didn't get up, as her legs were numb, and she was tied to a pole, suddenly someone entered, he had messy blueish-black hair, his skin was a coppery colour, and his eyes were light blue,

"oh… you're awake" he said, his voice sending shivers of fear…and desire (hehehe) down her spine

"Who are you?" she asked warily,

"I am your saviour" he said loftily

"Saviour ha!! You call this saving?? I am tied to a pole!" she was getting angry

"they wanted to control you"

"what? Who? Ha?" she was very confused

he just shook his head, and stood there, staring at her, his gaze made her want to squirm, but she didn't she did anything but look at him, so she started meditating, soon she forgot that he was there, she was at peace.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He entered the tent, she was awake, barely, she looked around confused,

"oh… you're awake" he said to her calmly, as she met his gaze, he felt awe,

"Who are you?" she asked warily, her voice made him feel hot and cold at the same time _why do I feel this? _He thought.

"Saviour ha!! You call this saving?? I am tied to a pole!" she was getting angry

"they wanted to control you"

"what? Who? Ha?" she was very confused

he shook his head at her folly, _doesn't she know??_ As he sat there inspecting the way the light glinted off her hair, and the way her clothes fit her body snugly, she started meditating, soon he could tell she forgot about him, three hours later she fell asleep, a piece of her hair was on her face, he gently moved it and he realised how close she was to him, they were close enough to kiss, _why did I think that? _He asked himself, quickly, after making sure that no-one else was around his lips brushed hers, it sent a chill up his body.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day, she awoke, to the smell of food, the man from the day earlier, walked in, with a blanket, knife and some food, he undid the rope that tied her wrists together, and gave her the food, while he wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.

After eating she looked at him,

"Who are you?"

"Darius of Faretiyon"

"What do you want?"

"You're help"

"With what??"

"we have some trouble with rebels on our island"

"So??"

"we heard that you could help us"

"why should I? You have kidnapped me and tied me to a pole"

"you wouldn't have helped us for any other reason" he was getting angry

"so what makes you think that I should help you now?"

"if you don't I will kill you"

"I don't care" she said calmly,

he momentarily forgot his anger, looking in awe at the women in front of him, who would defy him, even to death, but then as he remembered the burnt shell of his home, his anger returned, he untied her legs, and her from the pole, and led her outside the tent, she could not escape, there were too many guards, he led her to another tent, opening the cover he ducked in, inside was two girls, they were burnt and in pain, they were the only ones of his village, who were there on the day of the attack who survived, she gasped, and collapsed to her knees at the side of one of the girls,

"Are you okay?" she asked her, concern in her voice

"it hurts.." the girl croaked, while she examined them, he stood at the door, angry, and watching her every movement.

Not noticing the tears that trickled down her face, she got something out of her pocket, she placed it in the hand of the oldest girl, and whispered,

"Goddess bless"

she then stood and rushed by Darius, who stood shocked to find that she was crying, he eventually exited the tent to find her sitting on the grass, in her lap was one of the camp cats, she was patting it, as he neared her, she didn't look up, but she knew who it was, she murmured quietly, but loud enough for him to hear,

"I will help you"


	11. Thinking

**A/N-** I feel like being good and updating… because I just checked my Story Traffic, and…. It has had 3350 hits (whatever that means) and 960 visitors….woooooot!!! Which means that it has had 1.89 k hits, from people in America!! GO AMERICA!! A.M.E.R.I.C.A. R.U.L.E.S.!!!! People in Japan, Israel, Malaysia, and South Africa have also visited it!!!! Sorry for the ranting…I am just sooo happy!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Disclaimer-** I do not own anything that you recognise

**A/N 2-** I have just finished a story called; **The Empress**, go to my profile, press the link and check it out…. And review… PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**A/N 3- **this story has a total of… 37 reviews…. i am so happy!!! Remember…. KEEP REVIEWING

::gives you mad/evil stare:: ::and laughs madly, scaring the readers into reviewing so they can escape::

On with the story…

The Day after Kel had run away, Dom could be found wandering around the gardens of the palace, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, suddenly he walked into someone, and fell over, as he stood up, he saw that it was Etiori,

"Your Highness" he said, with a bow, instead of answering, he bowed his head and moved on, deep in thoughts.

So Dom walked on, thinking, _why did she go? Does she really have business down south? Or has something upset her? _Suddenly he realized that he was constantly thinking about her, _why do I keep thinking about her?? I've fallen in love before… but it has never felt like this… what is wrong with me??_

Suddenly he rounded a corner and saw Lady Yalana of Green Hill, an old 'friend' of his, and he grinned, he walked up to her, sat on the bench that she was sitting on, and kissed her neck, she giggled and smiled, then got up, and he led her to his rooms (naughty! naughty! Dom!!!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Etiori stalked the gardens, looking for a place where he could think, as he walked down the path, he walked into someone, Dom, after he left, Etiori walked on, until he found the perfect place, it was at the top of a cliff, he sat down, his legs were over the side, and he stared out at the sea, he remembered seeing her at that very place years before, _why did she run?? Why did I kiss her?? What am I to do??_ He thought very confused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the Divine Realms; Kyproth, Mithros and The Great Mother Goddess, were talking,

"How could this have happened?? This wasn't supposed to happen," boomed Mithros

"We can't chose who mortals fall in love with… or who they think they do," answered the Great Mother Goddess,

"True…but we can help influence them" as he said this, Mithros turned to stare at Kyproth, who was sliding down his seat,

"What did you do?" he shouted

"Nothing…. really"

"WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?" his voice caused an earthquake in Carthak,

"I…ummmm…….isortofummmmtoldthePrincetoKissher,howwasisupposedtoknowthatshewasgoingtorunawayandgetcapturedbysomevillagerswhowanthertosavetheirvillagefromadangerousenemy,orthattheleaderofthevillagerswouldfallinlovewithher,orthatshewouldfallinlovewithhim?" he said in one breath, amazing the other two that he could do that (not surprising really as God's don't need to breath) it took them a moment to understand what he had said, but by that time, Kyproth was already gone

"KYPROTH" Mithros screamed, at the non-existent God.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Darius watched her, as they rode, she was beautiful and determined, and her eyes were filled with sadness, when she looked at the burnt children, at lunch, they were having trouble eating so she helped them eat it, she surprised him with her care and sympathy, when they camped, he would often find her with the girls or with the animals, she just seemed to mother them.

One night, he was sleeping when he heard someone moving outside his tent, he popped his head out to find that it was Kel, he followed her and was surprised to see her go inside the girls' tent, he waited in a tree, which was nearby and he faintly heard her sing,

"Sleep, the stars are out tonight to watch over you…sleep it will be all right, don't be afraid, I will protect you, sleep"

Eventually she came out of the tent, there were tears in her eyes, her caught her arm, and she spun around surprised,

"What do you want?" she asked him,

"Why did you sing to them?" he asked her kindly, she looked down,

"I know what it's like to loose everything" she eventually murmured, he was so surprised that he loosened his grip, and she left, leaving him standing there dumb-founded, amazed at what she had said, as the moon left the cover of clouds and shone on the empty camp.

**A/N –** know that it might sound like, I don't like Dom…well I don't…I LOVE HIM!!! ::hehe:: if you want to read some Kel/Dom stuff read **The Way She Blushed, **you could also read **Tears **and **The Fire, **though those could be whoever you wan't them to be (hehehe)

**A/N 2 –**I would love to say three sentences in one breath like Kyproth did (above) but sadly I can't ::Darn!:: OH!!!! Guess what? ::random people in background yell "what?":: On Tuesday it is my 15th Birthday…so I expect people saying Happy Birthday…. It will cheer me up, because I have a MATHS exam on Tuesday as well…(F.Y.I. if you are in England, and are in year 10, and are doing the Edexcel Testing System….it is Module 3 (ugh…I hate module 3) you know what I mean?….if not WHATEVER!!!!)


	12. A Crystal

**A/N -**Ohh… hey… I know some of you may be confused about getting a new chapter called- RANTING ABOUT A REVIEW- if you are on story alert…forget it I was just ranting… because I got a review which I didn't particularly like (review no. 43 to be exact [saying no more]) and then this reviewer, reviewed again (review no. 44) [again I will say no more…. I have decided NOT to retaliate] what am I doing??? Sorry about the ranting **again.**

**Notice-** TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

**Disclaimer- **I do not own anything that you recognise

**A/N 2- **I have decided to thank EVERYONE for reviewing- if your name is not on the list… I'm sorry, it 00:27 am here.

Thank you =

**weirdogirl11**

**very amused **/** just someone who cares**

**Soraya the All Speaker**

**Kari of Mindelan**

**xXthenextbookwormXx**

**studentofwords**

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**.**

**ami**

**dolphin dancer**

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**Insanity on High**

**too-much-of-a-book-lover**

**quickreader93**

**LadyReaderOfBooks**

**micati**

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I know many of you have reviewed many times…. SO I THANK YOU!!!! ::bows at my great reviewers::

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A week after Kel had joined the group, Darius walked into the girl's tent,

"Do you want anything Kara?" he asked the oldest girl

"No thank you" she croaked, her burns were healing and she seemed to wear a smile more often though her eyes were often blank, and brooding, he often wondered what exactly had she seen in the village, he looked towards the younger girl, and saw that she was asleep, her burnt hands, grasped the blanket which covered her.

He got up and was about to leave the tent, when he noticed that Kara was clutching something,

"What is it?" he asked gently, pointing at her closed fist,

"Nice Lady gave it me" she said, opening her fingers to reveal a crystal, it gave off a slight blue-ish glow, and imbedded in it was writing which said;

_May your heart be as pure as this light!_

It was obviously very valuable, he couldn't understand why someone would give away something like that, to an orphan, but then he remembered what Keladry had said,

"_I know what it's like to loose everything"_ it saddened him deeply.

He watched as the orphaned girl, slipped into sleep, and then exited the tent, he wondered aimlessly around the camp for a while, not really noticing that he was searching for Kel.

He found her, underneath a tree, with all the camp animals, and her own horse, sitting around her, asleep, he watched as the moon-light flitted across her hair, and sighed, sinking to the ground he also fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**A/N- **hey I know it's short… but it is almost 1 am and I am TIRED!! ::yawn:: the next chapter will be extra long for you people… as a kind of sorry, for the shortness of this one.

**A/N 2- **please review and tell me what you think.

**A/N 3 – **TO **very amused** / **just someone who cares**- I am so sorry about the immaturity of the last chapter, which in truth wasn't really a chapter… it was just ranting… I would give you the old excuse of it's 00:53 am here, but we are in the same time band… so I know it doesn't work. Again I am sorry…. Forgive me??

**A/N 4** – do not expect ANYTHING tomorrow…. For these reasons-

I need to sleep

I will not be revising then **and**

In truth I have to do other things ::sigh::

Good night…or Good Morning :)


	13. A stop on the way

Disclaimer – I own nothing that you recognise

A/N – this chapter was **beta**ed by the amazing abyssgirl –

Khadeejah….THANK YOU!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~

When Kel awoke, the sun was still rising, and the animals surrounded her. She sat up, and then winced at the crick in her neck. She stood slowly and looked around the lonely camp, being almost empty. People were still sleeping, and the odd bird was flying about. Somehow, she managed to get free of the animals without waking them, and then reached into her bags to get her sword. She was about to find a spot to practice when she felt someone grab her arm. Kel quickly pulled the offending arm, sending it, and the person attached, over her shoulder and into the ground.

"Darius?" she asked, recognizing the body, which was lying on its back.

"Yeah," he managed to croak.

"I am so sorry."

He pushed himself off the ground, so that he could stand; when he did, she noticed that he was half a head taller than she was and had the brightest green eyes she had ever seen."It's okay," he mumbled, slightly blushing.

"Okay." She looked away from his piercing stare.

"What are you doing?" he asked, pointing towards her sword.

"Huh? Oh … I was going to practice."

"Oh… do you want a partner?" he asked.

"Sure." As his eyes left her, she breathed easily once again.

_Why does he affect me so? _ She asked herself.

Soon he was back, holding his sword. It wasn't like most swords that she had seen in the Yamani Isles; it was slightly curved and had an intricately designed hilt.

"On guard," he said, snapping her out of her thoughts. They stood wary, and suddenly he lunged at her, his sword extremely fast; she parried, and dodged away, then spun in, her sword swung towards his. He jumped out of the way. Soon they were exchanging blocks, and dodging each other.

Her arm was getting tired, so as she went towards him again, she swapped hands, putting the sword in her left. As he saw that she now was coming at him with a fresh arm, his eyes widened. Using his momentary surprise, she swung her sword into his, sending it out of his grasp, and flying into the air, to land by the trees.

"Where did you learn that?" he asked her, in awe.

"The Palace." She walked over to where his sword landed and picked it up, and almost whistled in appreciation. It was extremely light, but flexible and strong. She wiped the mud off of the sword, onto her leg; by cleaning the surface of the sword she saw a gleam of pearly silver.

As she passed him back his sword, she saw that he was watching her.

"Where did you get that sword?" She was amazed by the quality of the handicraft. Whoever had made it was seriously talented.

"I made it." He smiled at her slightly puzzled expression, which managed to get through her mask; it was then when she realised that no one in the camp ever hid their expressions.

"Why don't you hide your feelings?" she asked.

"Our island is so remote that we don't feel the need to hide our feelings."

"So why do you need me?" She frowned slightly.

"Unfortunately, it isn't as remote as we would like." His eyes turned slightly icy, silently forbidding her from asking further.

"Oh." She wanted to know more, but guessed that it was better for her to be quiet at that point.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A couple days later, they stopped at a town. They decided that they would camp there for a couple days to stock up on some things that they were in short supply.

On the first night in the town, Kel ordered a bath and a room at the local inn for the night. As she eased into hot soapy water, she sighed in contentment. She hadn't had a proper bath in weeks. While looking at the now dirty contents of the tub, she thought about everything that had happened to her.

She fell asleep in the bath, and so she did not notice Darius knocking on her door. When she didn't answer, he opened the door slightly and looked in to see that she was asleep. She looked so peaceful, he thought, gently picking her up. Looking at her serene face, he carried her to the bed and put the blanket over her form. Just before leaving, he touched her cheek, his eyes slowly roving over her still form. As he did so, she awoke. He moved to look at her face, seeing that she was surprised and also a bit scared.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to see if you were ready for dinner… but you were asleep in the bath."

Kel blushed at the thought of him seeing her naked, and pulled the blanket closer towards her. "Thank you."

"Huh?" He was looking at her, noticing how close they were.

"I said, 'thank you'."

"Oh." He stood there for a moment, gazing into her hazel eyes, trying to see what she felt. Eventually she broke the eye contact and blushed.

"Kel…" He said her name in a whisper; his voice was so husky that it sent waves of pleasure through her body.

"Yes Darius?" He didn't notice. After a moment of silence, she got up, blanket firmly held around her, and went into the changing room.

When she exited, clad in a light green kimono and a darker green obi, he was leaning against her bedpost. A maid had come in to take the bath away. Kel stared at her feet, watching her soft, dark green slippers follow the contours of the floor.

Suddenly she felt his arms around her waist. He pulled her into an embrace. As she put her head on his shoulder, she felt safe. She could feel his heartbeat. Eventually she felt his cool fingertips underneath her chin, making her look at him. In his eyes, she saw an emotion that she couldn't name; it both scared and comforted her at the same time. Entranced by his gaze, she didn't notice him coming closer; until suddenly, when he kissed her. She snaked her arms around his neck and twisted his silky hair through her fingers.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

While Kel was getting dressed, a maid had come into the room to take the bath. She'd looked at him invitingly, but he just shook his head, unable to even imagine being with anyone else. Darius leaned against one of the bed-posts and sighed.

Eventually Kel returned. She was dressed in shades of green, which complimented the flecks in her eyes. She glanced down at her feet, looking so innocent and beautiful that he couldn't stop himself from walking to where she stood and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him.

Instead of fighting, as he half expected her to, she accepted his embrace. She felt so right in his arms. She leant her head on his shoulder; with their position, he could smell the fragrance of jasmine on her hair; it intoxicated him, just as her mere presence did. Without knowing what he was doing, he put his fingers under Kel's chin, raising it so that he could look into her eyes. They were filled with awe, fear and something that he couldn't name. He noticed her full lips, and instinctively, he kissed her. He tasted her, feeling his whole body fill with energy. Darius remotely recognised her putting her arms around her neck and playing with his hair.

When they broke apart, he realised what they had done, and quickly, without looking at her, he left the room. He silently slipped down the stairs, to the bar, where he got himself royally drunk.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Darius didn't remember anything from that night, except for kissing her, and drinking his tenth pint. So it was a surprise to him when he awoke in a room in the Inn; as he sat up he noticed that it was Kel's room.

He was on the bed, and as he looked around, he found her curled in an armchair by the fire. He groaned inwardly. _How can I be her friend her now, especially after yesterday?_ Darius tried to get out of bed, but his hangover was so bad that he just fell to the floor with a bang.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A noise awoke her. As Kel opened her eyes, she found Darius on the floor, and guessed what was wrong with him. Trying to put off any thoughts of the kiss, she rooted through her bag to find a bottle of hangover cure. As her fingers closed on the bottle, she pulled, and eventually it came clear of everything that was in her bag. She found a cup and poured him some of the cure, and then passed him it.

As he took the cup from her hands, she saw regret and denial in his blood-shot eyes.

Darius drank the foul tasting mixture in one gulp with a grimace. He stood up, clutching his throbbing head, and looked down at where she sat, he shook his head slightly, at the wondering look in her eyes and he left her room,

_I can't do this! _He said to himself, after exiting her room,

_I have to go back…_

_NO! I have to do my duty!!_

_You love her, _a dry voice in his mind said

_No I don't. Who are you?_

_I'm you… and someone else,_ the voice replied monotonously

_That doesn't make sense._

_So what?_

_What should I do?_

_Whatever you feel you should._

He gave up thinking and went outside, to where the others were camping, all the while muttering things about annoying voices in his head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When he shook his head at her silent question, her heart broke. All her hope shattered; she was alone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N -What's going to happen next??? That's for me to know and for you to find out!! ::evil laughter::

A/n - i accidently uploaded the wrong version of this chapter... THIS is the right one...sorry for the confusion.


	14. Recollections

**Disclaimer- **i own nothing that you recognise

**A/N- ** thank you once again, to my amazing beta **(Abyssgirl)** - you are the best Khadeejah-

**A/N 2 - **there are now over 50 reviews on this story, everyone who has read it, and / or reviewed it gets a bag of cookies!!!!

* * *

Eitori paced his rooms, past the blue walls, and the windows that stared into the gardens, again and again. _How could I have done it?_ He asked himself. _How could I have messed everything up? _

He stopped pacing and sat on a chair, his head in his hands, and thought over what he'd had to do. _It isn't my fault, she made me do it. She said if I did it, I would get whatever I want! What can I do?_

He groaned as he remembered the first meeting he had with her, two years ago...

-x-

He was riding through the forest. The sun low in the sky, and he was heading back to the palace, when suddenly he heard the snapping of twigs somewhere to his left. He quickly spun around and saw her, she was tall, beautiful with long blonde hair and black eyes that stared into his soul, and she smiled, and said, "I can give you whatever you want… if you do something for me."

Though he was wary of this stranger, her beauty overtook his natural instinct to run far away from her. "What do you want of me?"

"I need your help." Her voice was silky, and it confused his brain, so he didn't realize that he was agreeing until it was too late.

"Okay."

"Swear it to me."

He was shocked but, soon he swore to this beautiful, but frightening woman. "I swear."

"Good." She smiled widely, showing him perfect white, razor sharp teeth.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Give me the throne."

"What!? Do you know who I am?!"

"Of course I do, Eitori."

"I won't do it."

"You swore."

"So?"

"I can give you anything or anyone that you want…" She stepped closer to him, so that he could smell her breath, it was sweet, sickly sweet, and suddenly in his mind he could see what he could get:

_He saw himself lying on a bed; the sheets were clean, and white. Lying next to him was a woman with long brown hair spilling over her face as she slept. Her head rested on his chest, her delicate hands in his. She slowly awoke, her eyelashes fluttering, and suddenly he could see her beautiful green-hazel eyes. _

_Eitori gasped slightly, though the pair couldn't hear it. The woman in his arms was Keladry. She smiled up at his other self, and said, "Hey."_

_The other 'him' looked lovingly at the woman in his arms. "Good morning, my love," he said, and then he kissed her._

Suddenly he was back in the forest.

"She can be yours…if you help me."

Eitori kept remembering the way Kel smiled at his other self. He couldn't stop himself as he blurted out, "Yes… I'll help you."

She smiled once again and walked off. Before disappearing into the forest, she turned to face him. "I'll contact you." And then she was gone.

_-_x-

Eitori stood up once again, and resumed his pacing. He had ruined everything and knew what lay in store for him now. He still had the scars from the last punishment. The sun had gone down during his pondering, making it time for bed, but he did not get to sleep for a long while.

When he eventually fell succumbed to Gainel's grasp, _he was in the woods again. __Every time, after that first meeting, she met him in his dreams, or nightmares. __She stood there, in the middle of the clearing, this time her dress blue and grey, and beautiful on her. She spun to face him, and it was obvious that she was angry,_

"_Why? Why couldn't you have waited until later? You could have got her without destroying my plans!"_

"_I still don't get why we had to raid that town," he said trying to distract her._

_She sighed, and ran a hand through her long hair. "We want the Emperor to think that it was the Copper Isles… so there will be war. He shall die, and then I get my throne."_

"_Oh."_

_Suddenly she remembered that she was supposed to be angry. "You," she said, pointing at his chest._

"_Yes?" he said innocently._

"_You will go south. There is trouble… we need more destruction to occur for the Emperor to declare war."_

"_Yes Ma'am." _

_Before returning, she touched his cheek and sent a shiver down his spine._

When he awoke, he found that his sheets were soaked with his sweating. Muttering under his breath, he got up, and changed, washing as he went. Eitori then grabbed his sword, and went outside to practice. It was going to be a long day.

**  
**

* * *

**review or else... i will not update soon.**

::hears massive gasp from readers:: **::who then stare at me evily::** ::scaring me into saying , "i was joking jonestly!!!!":: **::they still stare at me, making me cower, and wimper, and say, "please dont kiil me"**

has anyone seen** Transformers:Rise of the Fallen** ??? it is sooooo good, you have to see it!


	15. Eriamit

It was all planned; they would attack randomly, making the Emperor think that they were Raiders from The Copper Isles; soon the Emperor would attack the Copper Isles, making the country weak and unstable and she could get the throne.

It would have been perfect, except for HER! Why did he have to go and scare her away, she had planned for her to stay in the Palace, AWAY from the fighting. It was one thing to attack villages, but it was a completely other thing to go up against Keladry of Mindelan, the warrior of the Yamani Isles. How could she fall for her tricks???

Suddenly she heard a knocking on her door, she stood, and swept over to answer it, the floor creaking underneath her. As she opened it, she saw that it was her brother.

"Come In" the man entered, his head bowed. It was quite a funny thing really, how her older brother was afraid of her. She smiled slightly. He sat in one of her chairs, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Brother" she whispered, at the sound of her voice he shook with fear,

"I am sending you on a mission"

"Yes Ma'am" he murmured

"Eriamit, I want you to find Keladry of Mindelan, and follow her. Make sure she does not find out our plans"

"Yes Ma'am" he replied

"You may go now," she said with a flick of her wrist.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As he left he gave a small sigh of her relief, He exited the Building and looked up at the sky, it was dark and gloomy, just like him, he walked with a slight limp towards the stables.

Other people who worked for his sister, stared at him, they all knew who he was and looked on him with hate, pity and disgust. His face was covered with scars and his eyes were once a piercing black, but now when you looked at them, it was as if you could see into the Black God's Realm.

He was being sent out again, it was almost over; he could feel it. He didn't want to go again, he didn't like to sneak and kill; he still had dreams of being a farmer, but he knew that he couldn't, not anymore. He had a secret that he hid from everyone; before his sister had gained as much support as she currently had, he had fallen in love, and gotten married. Over time he had a child, a daughter; She was currently six, and he loved her with all his heart.

He could remember the day of her birth, and his wife's death –

He smiled down at his beautiful daughter; she looked just like his wife, Alexia. He turned and passed her their child, and saw a smile play across her face

"_She's so Beautiful"_

"_Yes she is…what should we call her?"_

"_Rasasia" she murmured, and then suddenly she opened her eyes, they were a bright blue._

_They were content, with looking at each other, and their perfect child, when suddenly they heard the crash of their front door, they shared a look between them- save the baby- so he picked her up and ran, he ran to their neighbours, put her by the door with a note, and ran back to his now burning house._

"_Alexia! Alexia where are you?" He screamed while searching for her. He eventually found her body. _

_She Was Dead!_

_He heard a cruel laugh from behind him, it was his sister; her blonde hair was flying around her face, her eyes were cold and devoid of mercy._

"_That is what you get for disobeying me brother… come" and with a flick of her hair she was striding towards the horses._

_He couldn't think anymore, so he followed her dumbly._

She had never found about his daughter, and he was thankful. He couldn't bear it if he lost her as well. He mounted his horse and galloped off towards the town of Dramat, hoping that he could get information on his targets there.

He was in luck, they were there; in fact they had been there for almost a day by then. He stood in the shadows as he saw a man exit the building; he was tall, and had messy blue-black hair. His clothes were messy, as if he had slept the night in them. Curious he followed him to the outskirts of town and saw the Tents. As the man that he was following got to the camp. Eriamit overheard him talking to someone,

"I see you've returned fr'm drinkin yorself un'er t'e tabl' th'n" said a man with shaggy red hair

"Shut up Legolas" (Hehe – Lord Of The Rings – I just HAD to do that)

"Wh't be t'e mat'r wit' ya mat'?"

"Nothing!" and he stormed off, he heard the other man, Legolas mutter something that sounded suspiciously like,

"Ri'ht… Wh't ev'r ya say mat'"

Deciding that there was no point staying where he was, he returned to the town, and saw her. She was beautiful, tall and had long brown hair; this was the woman that he was sent to follow. He saw the almost dead look in her eyes, it sent a pang of pity through his heart. She walked around the town for a while, not noticing that she was being followed, both by him, and from someone else… someone more dangerous.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As he left the Inn he could feel eyes on him, he looked around but couldn't see anyone. With a small shrug he walked towards the Camp. As he entered the Encampment, he saw Legolas sitting at the fire and he groaned.

After hearing his footsteps Legolas looked up and smiled,

"I see you've returned fr'm drinkin yorself un'er t'e tabl' th'n" he said, he was from Northern Tortall, and so had an accent that not many could understand.

"Shut up Legolas" he really didn't want to talk about it, his head hurt, and he was determined to forget about it.

"Wh't be t'e mat'r wit' ya mat'?"

"Nothing!" and he stormed off.

He entered his tent and fell onto his sleeping bag. He closed his eyes and immediately he remembered the look that she had on her face; it was one of hurt, betrayal and immense grief. Sighing he opened his eyes to realize that it was dark and that he must have dozed off.

He went back into town to get some food for the cooks, and saw Kel wandering the stalls; he was going to walk on when suddenly as she walked by an alleyway, he saw someone grab her from behind. She was dragged into the Alley; he followed to see that a man with a cloak on had a knife to her throat.

He felt a surge of rage and flew into the man, tackling him to the ground, she managed to roll out of the way. He knocked the man unconscious and then stood. Her eyes were wide with Terror, Fear and Disbelief. He saw that there was a trickle of blood on her neck; she didn't notice it because she was staring at him. Suddenly her eyes rolled back and she fell. He caught her and he looked down at her face, she was beautiful. He felt his heart break into thousands of pieces as he remembered that he had rejected her, she would never trust him again. Slowly he carried her to the camp.


	16. Folly

**Disclaimer - ** i do not own anything that you recognise! ::sigh:: Tamora Pierce does

**A/N -**Thank you to my beta- **Abyssgirl - **You are the best ::passes you a piece of cake::

**A/N 2 - **READ the notice at the bottom of the chapter :)

* * *

When Kel awoke, it was midday. She looked around and saw that she was in a tent. _How did I get here? _She asked herself. She slowly started to sit up, but felt a pressure on her shoulder as someone held her down.

It was Darius. At the sight of him she grew both angry and sad. She still couldn't quite comprehend the recent events.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Someone attacked you," he replied, eyes averted.

"Why?"

"We don't know."

"Oh."

She looked up at the roof of the tent and sighed quietly, half wishing that he would go, and also half wishing for him to stay. She didn't understand the feelings that raged through her. She looked over to where he sat. He was looking at her, as if checking that she was okay. When their eyes met, he looked away blushing slightly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eriamit sat in a tree watching the camp, he saw the tall man from the day before walk past the campfire and into the tent where Keladry of Mindelan lay. _He must have feelings for her,_ he told himself; it was the only reason why he would have that look in his eyes.

He recognised that look, he had seen it in others and even in himself; it was the look of a man who had lost something that he loved. _He must have lost her, _he thought. _But she is not dead… so he must have done something that separated her from him._ He shook his head at the man's folly. Couldn't people learn that by cutting off the ones that you love, even if to save them, you are only hurting yourself and them? He sighed and turned to look at the campfire. Men and women, all with grim faces, were conversing with each other and occasionally laughing. He sighed at that moment, for something which he would never again experience.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eitori walked out of the Palace and towards the stables. He mounted his horse and rode out of the city. As he reached the hills, he looked back at the city and his home. Eitori sighed. He then turned forward towards the village that she ordered him to attack, yet again.

But this time he would be leading the attack.

* * *

**A/N- **there are over 60 reviews to this story now!! ::everyone gets a HUGE cookie the size of their head::

**Notice - **There will not be another chapter until the 25th (at least) this is because i am going on holiday and will not have access to a computer! i know you will all hate me for being away for that long (approximately 14 days - which is the longest gap I have EVER taken from updating) but i am so sorry. please forgive me!

**A/N - **you may be complaining about how short this chapter is, but it is just a filler. I have already started writing the next one! :)

::passes everyone a piece of chocolate:: AU REVIOUR MES AMEES!! (goodbye my friends) - I am going to france- I will miss you all ::sniff::


	17. Weary

**Disclaimer - ** i do not own anything or anyone that you recognize. i am just borrowing them at the moment, and soon i will be returning everything to Tamora Pierce. _or so she thinks HAHAHAHAHAHA! _Did i just write/think that??? ::random people yell "yes!"::

**Author's Note - **I am sorry that this is 5 days late. Please forgive me. Once Again a million thanks to my beta - Abyssgirl!!!!

* * *

It was raining, the road was empty and muddy, and there were pot holes in the road. In short it was not a very good day. At the head of the train was Eitori, his cloak soaked through, rendering the rest of his attire muddy and cold. This added to all his other thoughts made him very annoyed. He wanted to turn back, forget the orders that he was given, but he knew that he couldn't. He had to carry on if he wanted her.

They were two days from the palace, and the sun was going down when they reached an inn. They got rooms because there was no one else there. He stalked up to his room, ignoring the innkeeper. As he opened his room he shrugged his cloak off and dumped it on the floor by the burning fire. He then lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, eventually falling asleep, oblivious to his filthy state.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the divine realms, three Gods were looking into a mirror, they were oblivious to the curious stares of the other deities. In the intricate mirror that lay on the table between them, they could see what was going on.

"What do we do?" asked the Great Mother Goddess, her eyes showing her worry.

"I don't know," murmured Mithros.

Kyprioth stood and stretched with a fake yawn. He paced for a moment thinking. Suddenly he stopped, a grim smile gracing his features.

"What Kyprioth?" Mithros asked after noticing the smile.

"The only thing that we can do is to talk to her."

"What?!" asked The Great Mother Goddess while standing, and knocking over the table in the same movement.

"Explain," Mithros commanded.

"She has to know what is going on."

"There must be another way," whispered the Great Mother Goddess.

"There isn't." Kyprioth sighed as he said those words.

They all turned to the mirror, where an image was visible of Keladry riding. She was wearing a long brown cloak with the hood up, and she was soaked. She looked around her, and seeing nothing, she continued on despite the cold that was enveloping her.

* * *

**Note - ** I know that this is late and i am sorry. I also know that this is painfully short, but the next one will be MUCH longer. i hope.

::passes everyone a piece of cake::

**Dont forget to review.**

(you know you want to)

**Just press the Button**

**\/**


	18. Strange Happenings

**Disclaimer-** Do i look like Tamora Pierce?? no! Is my name Tamora Pierce?? no! Am i a world famous writer??? no! so obviously i do not own anything except for the plot and any original characters.

**A/N-** i am so so so so so so so sorry that this is late, many things happened, and this was the first time that i could upload this. Once again, i would like to thank my beta- **Abyssgirl**- oh and read the note at the bottom. :)

* * *

In one of the training grounds at the Palace overlooking the town of Gerit, Halla, the trainees and a few Warrior Guards, were practicing despite the steady downpour of rain.

Halla was worried; he had gotten word that Kel was travelling with a village which had been attacked. Not only that, but Prince Eitori had also gone missing. They had searched the whole palace and surrounding city, but they couldn't find him. There were no signs of a struggle but there was no note so they presumed that he went for a long ride… he had done that before.

Suddenly, sensing someone behind him, he spun to face the person with a sword at their neck, but he lowered it when he saw that it was Sir Neal.

"Hello Halla," he said cheerfully, already forgetting that he had had a sword at his neck.

"Sir Neal," he replied with a bow.

"Do you want to practice?"

"Sure."

They both unsheathed their swords and got into the en-garde position. Neal moved first sending his sword towards Halla's side, but then Halla dodged it and sent a lunge towards Neal. Soon they were both sweating and their arms were straining. Neal stepped back suddenly, and as he did so, his foot went onto a rock and he fell making his sword fly out of his grip. He looked up to see Halla with his sword at his neck and said,

"I yield."

Halla moved his sword and walked over to pick up Neal's sword and passed it to him once he stood.

They stood around talking for a while until Kalle came running into the practice yard looking scared and dishevelled.

Halla hated Kalle; she thought that she was superior to everyone, and so treated people like dirt, but at that moment he felt a pang in her heart for the scared woman. He strode up to her and said kindly,

"What's wrong Lady Kalle?"

She turned to face him, and he saw the tears in her eyes,

"It's Lady Yeli… she's been kidnapped."

"What?!" Even though he didn't personally like Yeli either, she was the cousin of the Emperor, and the thought of someone kidnapping anyone who was that close to the Emperor, while in the palace, was a disturbing thought.

* * *

Yeli couldn't see anything due to the bag over her head, but she could hear the voice of a woman.

"Hello Yeli," the woman spoke in a sickly sweet voice.

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" she replied nervously.

The woman merely laughed and said, "You are here, because I want you to be here."

Then she heard footsteps and the closing of a door. She was alone again.

* * *

Halla stood in the rain; the guards and some of the Dantashi were surrounding him and listening to everything that he was saying.

"All of you will be going to search for Lady Yeli… she has been kidnapped but there has been no ransom note. Any questions?"

One of the guards said, "What about protecting the Palace?"

"With the exception of those here, all of the Dantashi will be protecting the Palace, as we are now on high alert."

There was a murmur of agreement and then everyone walked off in groups to start searching for the missing woman.

* * *

Kel was riding at the front of the line; her hood was up, yet she was soaked. She scanned the roadsides for any signs of danger but she couldn't see anything. They were a week away from the village that they had stayed at, and apparently they were only a week away from the next village.

She couldn't help remembering the way that Darius stared at her; she had noticed it so many times after the attack that she had started to observe things about him, like how when he was nervous he would move the hair out of his face, and how depending on his emotions his eyes would go from bright green to bright blue, and sometimes to grey. Though she was caught up in thought, she recognised the sound of someone stepping on a twig and abruptly stiffened. She looked around and saw no-one. Nonetheless, she continued on paying more attention to the sides of the road.

* * *

Darius was behind Kel and was looking at her, noticing the way she would slowly turn her head, always on alert. He desperately wanted to be with her but he knew that he couldn't. Suddenly he observed while she stiffened as though she had heard something, and then paused as her eyes scanned everyone for a moment, before continuing to looking at the sides more.

Eventually they left the forest and neared a cave. They decided to camp inside it, for it was large enough for both them and their horses.

Everyone except Kel entered; she stood at the entrance, still, her eyes roving over the landscape looking for movement. He watched her as she shivered slightly but continued to stand there despite the cold. He picked up his now dry cloak and walked to where she was. He passed it to her, exchanging it for her soaked one. As she put it on, she sighed in comfort at the warmth, and looked around again. He stood there for a moment watching as she begun to warm up and he slipped his hand into hers. She stiffened but allowed him to hold her hand.

Suddenly she caught sight of something and moved into the rain, her sword already unsheathed. She turned to him, shaking her head and motioning for him to stay where he was. She walked into the forest for a while, and he begun to feel worried. Just then she came out with someone, her sword at his neck.

He was a tall man with copper coloured skin, dead black eyes and scars covering his face. He also had a limp.

* * *

Once inside the cave she asked the man,

"Who are you?"

"I am Eriamit," the man said in an almost whisper-like voice.

"Why were you following us?"

He was silent for a moment and looked at the people who were further in the cave; they hadn't realised that he was there and so were sitting around relaxed. He then turned to her and said, "I was forced."

"By whom?" she asked.

He shook his head… he wasn't allowed to say her name. If she learnt that he had said it she would kill him. Painfully.

They must have realised that he couldn't say the name of his commander, and so Kel said,

"Why?"

"She doesn't want you to stop her… she wants you dead."

Eriamit saw the other man stiffen slightly at the thought of the woman dead.

"And what do you want?" she asked kindly. It surprised him; no one ever asked him what he wanted, and he didn't know kindness so he was rather confused.

Eventually he said, "I do not want you dead… I just want peace."

He watched as the man still looked suspicious but the woman started to look sad.

"You will stay with us… only so that you can't go back to your mistress, whoever she is, and inform her of our location."

He nodded, but he saw that the man opened his mouth to protest. However, it was immediately cut off by her staring at him with a gaze that clearly spoke of a warning. She then sat, and Eriamit followed her lead. She would be watching over him, he knew that for sure.

* * *

Darius walked off to the fire and said something to some of the other men. He saw them look at Eriamit, only to find that Kel was watching over the intruder and they relaxed again.

Darius watched them and saw that neither said a thing. Eventually he stood and gave Kel some food; she thanked him quietly, but her eyes flashed angrily when she saw that he didn't give any food to 'The Intruder' as he dubbed him. He sat down again and turned to watch them as she split her food and gave him some. He felt slightly guilty.

Eventually the man fell asleep and Darius watched as she tied him to the wall, just as a precaution. Then she removed all of his weapons and put them in a pile out of his reach. She got two dry cloaks, took off his wet one and placed one of them on his sleeping form and wrapped the other one around herself.

* * *

**A/N-** i have around 6 more chapters planned until this is finished ::readers go "awwwww":: yes, i know that it will be sad... BUT it will be finished soon, and then i can move onto another story that i have planned.

Oh! i won't update until i have 10 reviews to this story. i know that this is mean... BUT i want to get 100 by the end of the story.


	19. Love

**Disclaimer-** I do not own anything in the World of Tortall, unfortunately.

**A/N-** 5 MORE CHAPTERS UNTIL IT IS FINISHED!!! Woooooot!

* * *

Eriamit woke just as the sun was rising. He looked around and saw that the woman he was sent to watch, Kel, was across the other side of the cave. She was asleep and had wrapped the cloak around herself to keep out the cold mountain air.

He tried to get up but saw that he was tied to the wall. He smiled slightly; she definitely knew what she was doing. He looked around the cave again and he noticed many things, one of them being that on the left of Kel was a pile of his weapons. Another was that by the fire which was slowly burning out, there was only one person awake.

The man was watching him. He saw the hatred and suspicion in his eye. He raised an eyebrow, knowing that his watcher saw him. The man stood, letting the cloak that was around his shoulders slip to the ground. As he walked closer to him he recognised that this man was Darius, remembering him from when they were in the village.

* * *

Darius sat down in front of him, and looked at him for a moment in silence. Then suddenly he spoke, "Why are you following us?"

"I have all ready told you this"

Darius was silent for a moment. Then, "Why did your mistress attack our village?"

"She wants the throne."

"What?"

He looked behind him to see that Kel was awake and had stood up.

"She wants the Emperor to start a war with the Carthak. Then when the throne in unstable, she will take it and become Empress."

"The Emperor would never do that." Darius said looking at Kel for agreement, but instead she was pale and scared.

"Actually, he would if there was evidence that the raiders were working for Carthak."

Before now, Darius had merely been concentrating on how to save his village, but now he realized that this problem would have a major impact on the whole country.

He turned and watched Kel. She looked like she was battling emotions and thoughts.

* * *

Kel didn't know what to do, she could go and help the village, or go and warn the Emperor. She didn't know.

She had promised to save the village, but she had also vowed her sword to the Emperor. She stood and walked to the cave entrance and watched the sun rise thinking about the problem that she faced.

* * *

Eriamit watched Darius as he looked at Kel who was staring at the sun-rise, he shook his head and whispered, only loud enough for Darius to hear, "You love her… don't you?"

Darius turned to face him again and whispered back, "Yes."

"Then let her do what she needs to do"

Darius nodded and stood and walked towards Kel.

* * *

He walked to Kel and stood next to her, after a moment she turned to face him, there was a silent question in her eyes, answering it he said simply, "Go."

She nodded and turned to get her horse and belongings. He watched as she bade farewell to the others who had awoken moments ago. She walked past him, giving him a small smile.

He continued to watch as she made her way down the hill. Suddenly he ran after her; Kel heard him approaching and stopped. She looked behind and smiled as he drew closer. Darius stopped in front of her and took her hand.

"I wanted to say something before you go."

"What?"

"If you get yourself killed, I will never speak to you again."

"So helpful." (Haha- that's from Squire)

He chuckled. "I also wanted to do this."

And he leant down and kissed her, putting all his love into it, he smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They separated only because they needed to breathe.

"I love you," Darius said.

She blushed and replied, "I love you too… be careful."

"I will." And he helped her mount her horse.

She rode off into the forest, and just before she got out of his eye-sight she turned around and waved.

* * *

Yeli awoke to the sound of someone opening a door, she sat bolt upright and winced as the light hit her eyes; someone had taken the bag off of her head. She looked up and saw the face of a woman, beautiful and also slightly familiar to Yeli.

"Katrina?" she asked, astounded.

"Yes, my dear sister, how are you?"

She squirmed but as she was tied in ropes she couldn't escape. "I hate you," she said spitting in her half-sisters face.

Katrina grew angry and slapped her. "You will learn to treat me with respect."

"Why should I?"

"Because I will be the next Empress, and you will be a mere servant."

"Right…. And how are you going to do that?"

"We are going to war?"

"What?!?!"

"Goodbye sister." Katrina patted her on the cheek and walked away, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Things were not going well. Kel was somewhere down south, helping a village who had been attacked by raiders, or so his informants had said. Eitori had gone riding and had not returned yet. And his cousin Yeli had been kidnapped.

He had been getting reports of Carthaki raiders, and he knew that if he didn't do something immediately, the Yamani Lords will be pushing for war. He didn't want to go to war.

Zahie sighed and walked down the hallways thinking, not noticing the servants who hurriedly bowed and whispered, "Your Imperial Majesty." For at that moment he was not the leader of a country at peace. He was the leader of a country whose fate balanced on the edge of a glaive.

* * *

**A/N-** Hello people, i won't update until i have eight more reviews, which should make the total 90. YAY!!! that's 10 away from 100. woot. I have written all the chapters and sent them to my beta, so all i need know is for you to review.


	20. Headaches

**Disclaimer-** IS MY NAME TAMORA PIERCE??? no. good. get it?? i do not own anything.

**A/N** - i was so disappointed.. i was going to update once i got a total of 90 reviews. and you didn't. i have every chapter ready. and i decided that instead of waiting i would update now.

* * *

In the divine realms, things were not going well. Mithros was storming around shouting at anything or anyone who got in his way. Kyproth was in the background somewhere talking to the other trickster Gods, they were arguing about something as unimportant as boundaries. And the great mother goddess was getting a headache.

"You can't come into the Yamani Isles" said one of the tricksters, there were so many of them that she could never remember their names,

"Yes I can, I am The Trickster God"

"The Yamani Isles are my domain"

"I am the Trickster God of everywhere"

The two gods were radiating waves of anger, which was not helping The Great Mother's headache.

So, deciding to shut them all up she stood and walked over to the warring Gods, as they were now about to pummel each other to bits.

"Both of you, break it up… we have more important things to deal with" The two Gods looked at her surprised, and then they looked away ashamed,

"Good… now do whatever you tricksters do, and leave me alone" suddenly they were both gone and she was left to face Mithros.

* * *

Kel had covered more ground in four days than she had done in two weeks, and so she was now a couple days away from the Palace, and her horse was exhausted. Deciding that it would be okay to rest, she made camp and started to relax.

* * *

Halla was tired, wet and very, very annoyed. He and the others were marching south and they had run into problems after problems. Their food was poisoned. The horses were tired and ill, and the guards were getting very, very rowdy.

They had been travelling for just four days, and he was dreading the next couple of weeks.

He could hear the men grumbling, and he saw the sun go down. He knew that if he didn't stop soon they would grow mutinous.

He signalled for the men to follow him and they made their way to a clearing, it was large enough for them all, and for the person that was already camped there.

He dismounted his horse and walked over to the figure, whoever it was, was sleeping. He moved the blanket away from the person's face and smiled… it was Kel.

They made a camp near hers and settled down for the night, it may have been miserable… but now that he had his friend nearby it would be okay.

* * *

He hated ships… he detested them! _Why did I have to go by ship_, he thought to himself grimly. It wasn't that they were having a bad journey… apart from the occasional storms, in fact the captain had said that this was one of their most peaceful journeys. No, he hated ships because he got sea-sick.

Eitori was not in a good mood, death and burning and a strange figure that was telling him to turn back and forget the treason that he was committing had plagued his dreams.

But he couldn't, he had done a blood swear… if he broke it, he would die.

He hit his head against the ships rail, in the process of doing this, the others started to look at him funny, and he developed a headache.

* * *

She was annoyed… she was more than annoyed, she was irate.

Mithros was blasting everything that got with in a few meters of him she couldn't stand it anymore.

* * *

He was mad… _how could that mortal mess everything up?_ He thought _they're too much trouble, The world would be more easier if they were gone. True… but then it would be boring at the same time._ He huffed and blasted at the badger-God who foolishly tried to calm him down.

Suddenly in front of him was a very irate Great Mother Goddess, even when he was angry, he knew that you should never anger her.

"Will you stop behaving childish and start fixing this problem?"

He was ashamed, he bowed his head and went somewhere that was far, far away.

He walked into the domain of Iccea; The Goddess of Snow and Ice. Personally he didn't like the woman… but she created the best mediums to look at the mortal realms through.

"What do you want Mithros?" She asked, though her back was to him.

"I want to look through one of your ice mirrors" She nodded

"Go ahead" she said waving a hand to where the mirrors stood. He nodded knowing that she saw him and moved to where she had indicated.

He looked in one of the mirrors, it was the size of a hand and on the outside there was an intricate sculpture of a phoenix.

In it he saw many things;

Yeli was being dragged somewhere. She looked around and saw that she was in the middle of the forest. The person who held her suddenly let her go, and she fell and landed on her face.

_She sat up and saw that Katrina was in front of her._

"_What do you want Katrina?"_

"_I want you to see the death of everything you hold dear"_

_She knew that she couldn't escape… there were guards everywhere._

_Katrina shoved a mirror into her face and showed her something. Tears started to roll down her face, and she started to weep._

_Katrina started to smirk and ordered the guards to lock her up again._

He didn't understand it. Why did the mirror show him something that was totally separate from what he asked it too?

Suddenly two small hands took the mirror from him and placed it back where he found it.

He stood there and for the first time he noticed Iccea, the other times that he had seen her it had been brief and he had gotten a feeling of aloofness from her.

She was slim and tall, almost as tall as the Great Mother Goddess. She had blue eyes and white skin and white hair. Or that was what it looked like from a distance, but now that she was closer; he saw that she didn't have white skin or white hair. In fact he couldn't see her skin or her hair. She was covered in snowflakes.

"Why did the mirror show me that?" he asked her,

"It showed you what you asked for," she said with a shrug before turning back to what she was working on.

"But I asked it to show me something about the plot to replace the Emperor of the Yamani Isles"

"It did"

He was confused, and he left thinking over what he had seen. There were many things that he was positive of, and one of them was that Iccea was a very strange Goddess.

* * *

**R E V I E W ... ... ...**_ I mean it this time. If i do not get 90 reviews i will not update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

_ i am warning you. i would do such a mean thing. so **R E V I E W or else!!!!!!!!!!!**_

_please._


	21. Warnings

Disclaimer: _I am not Tamora Pierce, thererfore i do not own anything... except for the chocolate bar in the fridge... ummmmm.... chocolate!_

* * *

Kel awoke to the smell of someone cooking bacon. She sat up and looked around to see that in the clearing that was empty when she went asleep the night before, was now all of the Guards and half of the Dantashi. She sat up sleepily and saw Halla, who was on the other side of the clearing, by a fire and was eating some bacon.

She looked in her saddle bags and saw that he had taken the bacon from her. She stood and walked over to where he sat talking to some others.

She stood behind him, waiting for him to notice her. He was talking to some of her Dantashi trainees, who had seen her and the look on her face.

"Are you sure that she wont mind us eating her food?" one of them asked Halla while looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"I'm sure, she will be fine with it"

"Oh really?" she said making him jump and drop his breakfast. He scowled slightly at the ruined bacon and looked at her. His scowl dropped from his face and she saw fear in his eyes.

She sat down next to him and said,

"Why are you here anyway?"

"We were travelling down south, to help stop the raiders and find Yeli and we found you"

"Why do you need to find Yeli?"

"She's been kidnapped"

"When?"

"A week or so ago"

She started to curse in Scanran, and then stood.

"I need to get a message to the Emperor"

"I can pass a message through to Sir Neal using the gift" he offered

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

"Okay… do it then"

He looked at his palm and focused his gift at it, it started to glow a yellow colour and soon he could see Sir Neal in it.

_"Halla… what can I do for you?" He said._

_"I need to speak to the Emperor, will you get him?"_

_"I'll try" He walked down the corridor and into the gardens, and saw that the Emperor was sitting on a bench thinking._

* * *

He was thinking when suddenly he saw Sir Neal walking towards him with a globe of green fire in his hands. He walked up to him and bowed.

When he rose he said, "Your Imperial Majesty… I have Halla here"

His eyebrows shot up and motioned him to show him the image. In it he saw that Halla was there and so was Kel.

_"What do you want Halla?" he asked_

_"Kel here has a message for you"_

_"Go ahead"_

_"There are some raiders who are out to get your throne… they are not from Carthak."_

_"But we've had proof of Carthaki participation"_

_"It's a group of people who want you to go to war and un-stabilise the throne so they can take it from you"_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Yes"_

_He nodded and thought for a moment._

_"Lord Halla"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Go with Kel and help to stop these raiders"_

_"Yes, your Imperial Majesty"_

and then the connection stopped and he sat down once again and started thinking, not noticing when Sir Neal walked away.

* * *

Author's Note: _Hello there people! I hope you liked this one. it's just a filler chapter. but the action starts to heat up soon!!!! I want at least 5 reviews before i update! thank you._


	22. Grim Truths

Disclaimer: _I do not own anything, for now._

Author's Note: _i was going to wait for another review, but then i was like "Nahhhh!" i want to update NOW! so here it is._

* * *

Darius was worried for Kel, in fact he was so worried that he didn't notice the looks of pity from the others. They were only a day away from their village.

He and Eriamit, were now friends; well as friendly as they could be when one of them was a prisoner.

They reached the top of a hill and saw the boat that was waiting for them. He looked back at the long train of people and smiled when he saw their happy faces.

He rode back to where the children were.

"Darius… your back" said Kara, who was eight.

"Hello, little ones. Are yon okay?"

"Were getting Better… Rasa is still a little sore" she said indicating the six year old girl.

* * *

Eriamit followed Darius and saw that he was talking to the children. They were both very small and burnt. The oldest one had long blonde hair and green eyes. On the side of her face was a burn mark. But despite that she was happy.

The other one looked to be about six, she looked similar to him. And suddenly he felt a pain of recognition.

The small girl with bright blue eyes, and long black hair, and burns all over her body was his daughter Rasasia.

He choked a sob and walked away from them, not noticing when Darius followed him.

* * *

He was surprised when he saw Eriamit walking away from him. He followed him curious and saw that he had sat down under a tree. His eyes were sad and brooding and showed emotion. Darius had never seen him showing emotion and was surprised to say the least.

"See what they did… you helped them"

He shook his head, and murmured something but he couldn't hear it.

"They have no one…. The oldest one was one of six and they are all dead, and the younger one was an orphan and now she's lost everyone because of you"

"No"he managed to choke out.

"What?"

"I didn't do that to them"

"You work for the one who did… so it's your fault"

Suddenly he stood to his full height. He turned to look at him and he saw many things. One of them being that at his full height Eriamit was taller than him, and the other being that his eyes were full of anger, and sadness.

"I would never hurt them," he hissed

"But you did"

"You don't know anything about me"

"Yes I do… you are just someone who gets bossed around and enjoys killing" Darius knew that what he was saying was wrong,. But he had been thinking it for days.

"I. HATE. KILLING. I hate her!!!!!" he said and walked to the tree and punched it, letting some of his anger out

"You hate who?? Who is she??? Why can't you tell us?"

"She is my sister Katrina. She is the one that killed my wife and sent my child away. The only reason why I work for her is so she can't harm my daughter. You don't know anything about me or my life… so don't presume to know"

Darius was astounded

"You have a daughter???" he asked

"Yes… her name is Rasasia" Eriamit replied while looking at the six year old girl. Suddenly Darius understood.

"So… Rasa is Rasasia"

"Yes"

Darius looked at the sleeping child once again and saw that there was a similarity between the two of them.

* * *

Kel and the rest carried on towards the village, as they passed a village they swapped their horses and got more food. They had to get there soon.

They covered a weeks worth of travelling in three days, but there was still over a week left to go.

They raced down the road, not caring for stops or for the angry shouts of the locals that they were riding past.

* * *

They all boarded the boat and waited for it to reach the island which was their home. They eventually got there and when they did Darius smiled grimly. He had fond memories of this place but now almost everything was burnt down and their were still bodies littering the roads.

They unpacked everything and started to clear up the roads and buildings. They put all the bodies into graves and put up barriers, in case the raiders came again.

Night fell again and they put a watch out in case of the raiders.

* * *

They rounded the edge of the main land and saw the Island in the distance, Eitori started arming up and he ordered the others to get ready.

* * *

They had been their for a couple of days, and they started to relax when Darius heard a call from the watch tower

Darius ran to it and called,

"What is it?"

"It's them… they're back" replied the man pointing into the horizon, and sure enough they saw a boat.

* * *

Katrina looked into a mirror and grinned evilly. She and the camp were on the mainland. She knew that Kel wasn't with them. She had gone north to warn the Emperor but she wouldn't get there in time.

She had ordered the camp to be there in case something went wrong, she knew it wouldn't but it would be good to look out in the morning and see the fires that told her that the village was finally destroyed.

She looked at the tent in which her half-sister was in. How she hated that girl, just because they didn't have the same mother she wasn't in line for the throne. Ha… she would show them. She would become Empress and treat everyone who put her down like they were servants. Ahhh… it would be good.

* * *

They edged closer to the Island just as the sun went down. They boarded the landing boats and headed towards the shore. The setting sun made the water shine red, like blood.

Eitori looked away from the water disgusted and looked at the shore, where he could see the outlines of people with weapons. He smiled grimly…_ they wouldn't win… all of them will die._ He thought.

He hadn't noticed when he had grown so blood thirsty. He had changed he knew that, and sometimes he was disgusted at the fact. But at others, like now, he didn't care.

* * *

They were about a day away from the shore when they came across a camp, it looked very simple and at first she wasn't suspicious but then she saw someone pull out a woman and drag her to another.

She gasped… it was Yeli.

She motioned to the others and they circled the camp.

* * *

**R E V I E W ... ...**


	23. The Final Battle

Dislaimer: i do not own anything...

* * *

She motioned for the others to advance and she held her Glaive in front of her, suddenly they were met with a couple warriors, She heard screaming as some of her men went down.

She had been cut in the leg by one of the raiders, and she killed him, she looked at his body and repressed the urge to throw up. He was just a boy of about fifteen; he was gaunt and thin. He had bruises all over his face and he looked like he was being forced to fight. She turned back to the fight.

She could see in the distance, by the edge of the clearing that the woman was dragging Yeli by her hair.

She cleaned the blood off of her glaive onto her pants and ran after her while dodging swings of swords by other raiders.

* * *

They could see the landing boats nearing the shore and saw as men walked disembarked and walked up to the village.

In the lead was a man, he was tall and lean and muscled. He had brown-black hair and brown eyes, In his hand, by his side, was an unsheathed long sword. He looked around and motioned for the others to attack the others.

Darius stood and left his hiding spot and walked to where he was. In his hands were two swords and he faced him.

"Hello" he said, they were circling waiting for the other to strike. The other man was silent,

"You know something… you will die here" and then he lunged, and managed to cut his torso, but the other man twisted away and blocked him from attacking again.

"You will Pay for that" the man said

"No… you will pay for what you have done here"

His opponent smirked and lunged at him, but he dodged his sword and moved to the side.

* * *

Eitori was facing a man with blue-black hair and his eyes were grey. He had injured him and he was going to kill the peasant.

"You don't know who I am" Eitori said while lunging again, the man parried and returned with a quick blow and said,

"You do not know who I am" he retorted

"You are just some worthless peasant" he then spat in his opponents face,

The man ignored the spit that was trailing down his cheek and lunged again really fast and managed to get his arm.

"No, I am no peasant" he said with a grim smile

* * *

Kel chased after the woman through the woods, she could hear Yeli's screaming and the woman yelling at her to shut up. Her leg was bleeding and she was limping.

Eventually the woman stopped and she managed to catch up with her, with her glaive in her hand, she stepped into the clearing so that she could face the woman, who seemed to be the leader of the raiders.

"Hello there"

The woman whirled around to face her, as Yeli saw her she started to smile and said,

"Kel… you came" but the woman hit her and she fell onto the ground with her face bleeding.

"Hello Kel" she said, her voice sending chills of disgust down her spine.

"Who are you?" She asked her with her glaive at the ready position,

"Well… I am Katrina, and I'm going to be Empress"

"You will never be Empress, you traitor"

She laughed and lunged at her, Kel barely had anytime to move her glaive to defend herself.

Soon she was had to dodge the man and wild attacks that Katrina was doing.

* * *

Eriamit was facing the men that he had trained with, they were sneering at him, but he didn't care, he had to save his daughter.

He was facing a man who looked to be about twenty-three and suddenly he was in pain, he had a sword in his side. He couldn't breathe and he fell into the mud. He looked up and saw that the man was smiling and had gone on to face another.

He rolled over to his back and saw that in the distance Darius was fighting a man, he had seen that man once before, months ago. Suddenly the man had disarmed Darius and put his sword to his neck

* * *

Darius had been disarmed by the man, he looked into his attackers eyes and saw madness in them, the man started to laugh and he swung his sword back, so that when he brought it forward it would cut off his head when… …

* * *

Kel was getting tired of defending herself, so she spun her glaive quickly and knocked Katrina's out of her hand, she then swung it once more and cut off her head.

She walked over to where Yeli was cowering and helped her up, slowly they made their way back to the camp, which was now littered with bodies of the raiders, and a couple Guards.

She set down Yeli, by the fire and put a blanket around her shoulders, suddenly Yeli grabbed her wrist,

"I'm sorry for being horrible to you"

"It's okay… you should rest now"

She nodded and laid down, just before she fell asleep she whispered to her,

"Thank You"

She smiled slightly and stood, she then went back to Katrina, buried her and took her Glaive.

She put Katrina's Glaive on the ground by where Halla sat,

"What is this?" he asked

"The leader's Glaive"

He nodded and went back to cleaning the wounds of the others, he noticed that she was wounded and offered to heal her, but she shook her head and said,

"I have other things to do"

He nodded and let her go down to the shore where a boat was waiting for her.

* * *

He closed his eyes, expecting for the blow to come that would end his life, but it didn't come, so he opened his eyes and saw that there was a sword sticking out of his attackers chest.

The man fell forward and he scrambled out of the way, behind him was Eriamit, he was injured and bleeding from the wound in his side.

He stood and walked over to where he was and before he got to him Eriamit said,

"Tell my daughter I love her"

"I will"

"Thank You" then he fell to the ground with a smile on his face.

Darius ran to him and found that he was dead, though he didn't know the man that well he had tears in his eyes.

Suddenly he heard someone call,

"Darius" He looked up and saw that Kel was standing there. She ran to him and embraced him.

They were both crying for the loss of Eriamit who was a really good friend. She looked at the body nearby and gasped,

"Eitori?" She scrambled over to where he lay and turned the body over,

"Who?" Darius asked, confused at how they knew each other,

"Prince Eitori… what was he doing here??"

"I don't know, Eriamit killed him to save me"

"He was with them… but he was my friend" She was shocked and he moved to where she was and embraced her,

"You couldn't have known" he whispered and she started to cry for her lost friend.

They stood and took two swords with them, Eitori's sword and the sword that had killed him. They made their way to the boat.

As they disembarked the boat, Kel stumbled and fainted and Darius caught her.

A man ran over to her and muttered things about impatient people who never learn.

As the man worked on Kel, Darius watched him and noticed that the man cared for her.

"Who are you?" he asked him

"I am Duke Halla… a friend of Kel's… and you are?"

"Lord Darius of Faretiyon, I'm a friend of Kels too"

"Ohh"

"I have a question for you"

"Yeah"

"How come Kel is the way she is?"

"Her parents died when she was eleven… since then she's learnt to live on her own and to be wary of others, but despite that she is still kind to the poor and those who need protection"

He looked at Kel in a new light, suddenly her eyes flicked open,

"What did I miss?" she asked as if she had not just fainted.

He smiled at her and he knew that living with Kel would not be that bad.

* * *

Author's Note: _ the Glaive is almost finished... all that is left is the epilogue..._

_i have a competition for you..._

_'The Glaive' was just a working title...what do you think that it should be called?_

_don't forget to review_

_thank you_

_x_


	24. Epilogue

**Me no Own Anything. :(**

**It finished.... :(**

**me sad :(**

**:(**

**ENJOY!!!**

* * *

It had been fifteen years since they had first met on the way to rescue the Village of Faretiyon, and fourteen of those years they've been married.

The village had been rebuilt and better protection had been put up, mainly by the order of the new lady of Faretiyon.

Kel had married Darius a couple months after the battle. Together they had three children.

Their oldest was thirteen, and was called Saari, she had long blue-black hair and green-hazel eyes, the other two were twins; Ellia and Eriamit looked just like their mother but had their fathers eyes, which changed depending on their moods, they were just ten.

Kel was still a very important member of the Emperor's court, but she decided to train people in her new home.

Kel and Darius had adopted the two orphan girls, and every year on the anniversary of the battle Rasasia walked to a cherry-blossom tree. Buried underneath it was the body of her father.

In a room, at the back of their home, which was rarely used, on the wall was two bloodstained swords and one Glaive. The Emperor let them keep the weapons as trophies of the battle.

Today was one of the rare times that the room was used. Kara was waiting there, and fidgeting, next to her was a man with long red hair and blue eyes, his name was Jerite, and he was afraid of meeting her parents.

They eventually came in, Darius was glaring at him, but Kel had a restraining hand on him, and a smile on her face.

"Hello again Jerite" she said to him

"Greetings, your ladyship"

"May we inquire why you are here?"

"I uh… I mean we…. Ugh…. I request your permission to marry Kara" he stuttered

Darius' eyes widened but Kel just nodded and said,

"You have it"

Though all the while she had griped Darius' arm in a vice-grip so that he didn't jump the unfortunate man who wished to marry their daughter.

Kara noticed this and smiled gratefully at her mother.

* * *

In the divine realms, three gods were looking in an ice lake, and smiled to each other,

"I doubt she needs our help anymore" Mithros said,

"Brother… I think you're right" replied Kyproth, leaving the other two to talk.

"Sometimes I wonder where he disappears to" The Great Mother Goddess said to Mithros, suddenly Iccea appeared in front of them.

"You've seen what you wanted to, now please leave" she said ushering them out of her domain.

Mithros looked at the Great Mother Goddess, as they were walking along the path out of Iccea's domain and said,

"Sister… I don't want to know where Kyproth goes… for if I did, I would have to scold him, and to be honest that takes too much time"

**The End**

**Forever**

**MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

* * *

**REVIEW**


	25. Important Notice!

**Hello everyone**

**After reading over this, I have decided to re-write it.**

**It is now being published under the name 'Destiny' and i hope that it will be longer and better and that all those that liked 'The Glaive' will like it as well.**

**You can find the link on my profile.**

**Thank you,**

**Lady Arianne of Ambers Valley.**


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